Cantu to Giants? No urgency

John Shea from the ballpark, where Buster Posey seems to have replaced Tim Lincecum as the team’s media darling . . .

It’s the Giants and Marlins, and both GMs are in the house, Brian Sabean and Larry Beinfest. The Giants are buyers, the Marlins apparent sellers. With five days before the trade deadline, the Giants still are in the market for a bat — despite Posey’s contributions and superhuman July — and left-handed relief, though they could wind up with neither and wouldn’t be particularly miffed.

Lots of speculation about Marlins third baseman Jorge Cantu, but the Giants appear lukewarm. I’m told they aren’t impressed with his numbers, and rightly so. He’s hitting .260 with 10 homers and 54 RBIs. But since June 15, he’s at .205 with one homer and eight RBIs. Tonight, he’s playing third base, where he’s sub-par. The Rangers and Rockies have interest in him as a first baseman. The Giants, meantime, have lots of interchangable parts at first and third, especially with Travis Ishikawa hitting of late.

Before today’s game, when asked about the Giants, Cantu smiled and said, “We’ll see. I’ll try to make a good impression out there.”

As for left-handed relief, of which the Giants have none with Jeremy Affeldt and Dan Runzler shelved, they’re serious about Dontrelle Willis eventually being an answer. He threw to batters today for the second straight day, under the guidance of Dick Tidrow, and he’s expected to pitch for the Giants’ rookie-league team in Arizona within days. His fastball has been most impressive.

In other news, manager Bruce Bochy said Pablo Sandoval will return to the team tomorrow, but Bochy doesn’t plan to put him in the lineup after the day of travel. Eugenio Velez (concussion) was in the clubhouse before the game, and Bochy said it’ll be a week before Velez resumes baseball activity.

Regarding the Giants in the trade market, Bochy said, “I think we have a very talented club. If we play up to what we’re capable of doing, we’ll be fine.”

Also tomorrow, Jon Miller will be back with the team after his Hall of Fame weekend.